


Melting Point

by RedKingKelly



Category: Naruto
Genre: AU, F/M, Gen, M/M, Mentions of attempted grooming, Mentions of attempted non-con/dub-con, Multi, No Romance, OT3 is not actually together (yet), very gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-26
Updated: 2019-03-14
Packaged: 2019-03-24 04:22:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,469
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13803300
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RedKingKelly/pseuds/RedKingKelly
Summary: For Uchiha Itachi, meeting Uzumaki Naruto was a stroke of fate. The kid is loud and bright and obnoxious, and the best chance Itachi has at getting closer to his baby brother, because he is also Sasuke's best friend. Itachi has no idea what he's getting into here.





	1. Confusing Little Brothers

“Shit!”

Itachi stared, somewhat bemused, at the cussing blond teenager currently laying on top of him. Taking a moment to orient himself – flat on his back on the cold, hard concrete, with a complete stranger slowly suffocating him – Itachi figured that he was lucky to have avoided any sort of injury. He ignored Shisui’s obnoxious laughter in the background; obviously, his cousin would be of no use here.

Before Itachi could say or do anything to remove the teen from his person, the boy had sat up, relieving the pressure on Itachi’s chest, and allowing him once again the full use of his lungs. “Shit, man, I’m so sorry!” Bright blue eyes stared concernedly down into Itachi’s black. “I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

Shisui, calm and coherent by now, tapped the boy’s shoulder. “He’s fine,” he said dismissively. “Although, he might be better if you would let him up…?” The boy followed Shisui’s dark gaze to where Itachi was still sprawled on the sidewalk, pinned down by orange-clad thighs straddling his hips (although really, who wore jeans of such an obnoxious color? Who _made_ them, for that matter?).

Itachi felt his lips twitch with amusement as the kid hurriedly scrambled off of him, offering down a helping hand to haul him up, along with an endearingly sheepish grin. “I’m really, _really_ sorry about that,” the blond boy stressed. “I was in a rush, and I wasn’t looking where I was going, and – hey!”

A finger was suddenly invading Itachi’s personal space, pointing directly at his face. Behind him, Shisui was laughing again.

“Do I know you?” The kid was asking. “Your face looks really familiar.”

He wasn’t surprised. The Uchiha family was rather prominent in Konoha, and they all shared similar features; odds were, this boy knew at least one member of Itachi’s extended family.

“My name is Uchiha Itachi,” he replied. And that was as far as he got, because a loud gasp had escaped the younger male. Even Shisui’s continued snickers died down at the abject shock on the teenager’s face.

“You’re _That Man_!”

Well. Itachi and Shisui exchanged mystified glances at the dramatic proclamation. He had been called a lot of things in his twenty-two years of life, but nothing so generic as ‘That Man’.

Apparently able to read the puzzled looks on both Uchiha males’ faces despite the fact that they were, well, _Uchiha_ , the teen chuckled awkwardly, running a hand through his bright blond hair. “Uh, y’see, er, my name’s Uzumaki Naruto, and uhhh, I’m friends with your brother?” It came out as a question.

Sasuke. If Itachi were not so practised at hiding his emotions, he would have been gaping in shock. Sasuke had _friends?_ Sasuke called him _‘That Man’?_

Luckily for him, Shisui had always been good at reading the situation. He squeezed Itachi’s shoulder reassuringly, before gliding forward to take hold of the teen- _Naruto’s_ arm, saying cheerfully, “Well, whattaya know! Little Sasuke-chan has friends! Why don’t you come have a coffee with us, Naruto-kun, and tell us all about the mischief that my baby cousin’s been getting up to?”

Itachi almost rolled his eyes. If Shisui wasn’t so adept at reading people, he would have smacked his older cousin across the back of the head. To any normal person, that would have sounded so suspicious; especially with the way Naruto had reacted to Itachi’s name. It was clear that the brothers weren’t on the best of terms, what with Sasuke’s lovely little nickname for him.

As it was, the blond just squinted at them in confusion, the six black lines on his face crinkling with the movement. “I would,” he said slowly, tugging his arm out of Shisui’s grasp. “But I’m already late home, my mum’s gonna kill me, ‘ttebayo.”

Shisui accepted this with good grace, pulling his cellphone out of his pocket with a friendly grin. “Can I get your number then, Naruto-kun?” He asked. “I’m sure you know already, but Sasuke-chan isn’t a big talker. I’m not asking for secrets or anything, but it would really be great if you could meet up with us sometime, just let us know how he’s doing?”

Watching Naruto type his number into Shisui’s phone, Itachi wondered if this kid was really as naïve as he appeared. He didn’t seem to be suspicious of their motives (not that there was anything sinister about them anyway), wasn’t asking any awkward questions… But there was something about him, something that was marking Itachi as _off_.

And when coupled with the fact that this boy was supposedly friends with Itachi’s precious baby brother, well.

It appeared that he would have to do some digging.

* * *

 

“Found anything?” A familiarly heavy weight draped itself across Itachi’s shoulders, the words spoken right next to his ear.

Itachi casually shrugged Shisui off, spinning his desk chair around to face his cousin, who had quickly made himself comfortable on the end of Itachi’s bed. “Of course.” Just for that inane, insulting question, Itachi was going to make this very difficult for Shisui.

Obviously, the older man could tell, because he grinned ruefully. “Anything interesting?” He played along, resigned to having to drag the information out of the more stoic Uchiha.

“Very much so.” Not very helpful; in their line of work, ‘interesting’ could mean anything.

Shisui hummed thoughtfully. “Anything threatening?”

Itachi scoffed. If he had found anything that would put Sasuke at risk, he wouldn’t even have waited for Shisui.

“Okay, okay,” his cousin’s lips twitched in what Itachi could tell was a repressed grin. “You’re so overprotective, you know that right?”

Itachi gave that question all the attention that it deserved; that is to say, none.

“Right,” Shisui answered his own question. “So who is this Uzumaki kid, then? He didn’t really seem like the type that Sasuke would want to hang out with.”

He left unsaid the fact that they’d thought that no person alive would be the type of person Sasuke would be friends with. Itachi’s precious (surly, antisocial, _cranky_ ) baby brother didn’t appear to have any desire for any sort of human interaction.

“Uzumaki Naruto,” Itachi drew the name out, thinking back to sunshiny yellow hair and smiling blue eyes. Certainly the complete opposite to Sasuke’s cold, dark eyes and raven black hair. “He’s in the same year at Samsara High as Sasuke, and they are in the same form class. He isn’t the best student, and he seems to get detention at least once a week.”

Shisui raised a brow. “Still not sounding like somebody that Sasuke would want as a friend.”

“It would seem that Uzumaki Naruto is generally regarded as a rambunctious puppy by his teachers; most of them comment in his reports that he has a short attention span, is occasionally disruptive, and can be quite slow in comprehending the coursework, but it nonetheless a pleasure to have in the classroom due to his enthusiasm and positive attitude.” Itachi drew in a deep breath. That may have been the longest sentence he’d ever spoken.

His cousin whistled lowly. “Are we sure he really is friends with Sasuke? I can’t see the kid tolerating that kind of personality, to be honest.”

Neither could Itachi. His little brother was so prickly; he could hardly stand to be around his own family, most of the time. Itachi often wondered what had made his happy, smiling baby brother become so closed off. He’d grown out of his childhood cheeriness to be sure, but the Sasuke who had started at Samsara High and the Sasuke who was here now… They were too different for there to not have been a catalyst.

And Itachi considered it the greatest failing of his life that he didn’t know what that catalyst was. His own precious otōto, and Itachi had failed to stop whatever it was that had caused Sasuke to build such a thick, defensive wall around himself.

Shisui, perhaps sensing the turn that Itachi’s thoughts had taken, poked his toes against Itachi’s knee. “C’mon cousin, tell me the rest. That can’t have been all you found, surely?”

Allowing Shisui to distract him, Itachi rolled his eyes in contempt. “Of course it isn’t.” His cousin would have to pry the rest of it from him; Shisui’s punishment for continuing to ask such offensive questions, even if he did have good intentions.


	2. Exasperating Little Cousins

Shisui, arguably the smiliest Uchiha to exist, had often found himself garnering a fair bit of attention over that fact. However, there had never been anything like this.

Ridiculously large blue eyes were staring into his own black ones, from an unnervingly short distance away. The unattractive gaping that the owner of those eyes was doing would have been amusing, if he hadn’t been so ridiculously up in Shisui’s grill.

“Uhh, Naruto-kun?” Shisui said questioningly. “What’s so interesting about my face?”

The kid jerked back, laughing sheepishly. “Uh, haha, sorry, Shisui-san! I was just trying to figure out if that would be how Sasuke would look if he actually smiled properly, the repressed bastard.”

Shisui’s smile wavered a little as he tried to contain his laughter; somehow, it wasn’t surprising that Sasuke’s friendship with this boy appeared to be full of fondly spoken insults. Maybe it wasn’t so strange that his grumpy little cousin was friends with Naruto – neither of them was afraid to speak their mind.

It would be an interesting friendship, to be sure.

“Speaking of Sasuke-chan,” Shisui spoke casually as Naruto leaned back in his seat. “Does he know you’re here?” _With me_ , he refrained from adding.

Naruto looked at him like he was crazy. “You’re kidding, right? He would kill me if he knew I was hanging out with you.”

Shisui frowned. “Then why are you here? Not that I’m not grateful,” he added hastily. “But if you knew he wouldn’t like it…”

The teen grimaced slightly, roughly rubbing a hand through his sunshine-bright locks. “I’m not sure, really,” he admitted. “But Sasuke… he’s my best friend. And I know I’m his, even if he refuses to say it, the prick.” Naruto made a face that Shisui couldn’t help but chuckle at; he often made the exact same one when Itachi was being particularly aggravating. “So I just want him to be happy, and I want him to get along with his family again.”

“You say that as though we ever got along in the first place.” Shisui smiled wryly. “Sasuke-chan has never been particularly impressed with me.”

Because Shisui was always stealing Sasuke’s precious Nii-san away.

Naruto scratched his head. “Really? I always kinda felt like he admired you just as much as he did Itachi.”

Something twinged in Shisui’s heart. Ignorant to the effect of his words, Naruto continued on. “Yeah, that’s why I want to help you guys all get close again. Sasuke-bastard misses you both, I know he does.”

“Then why doesn’t he just _talk_ to us?” It came out a little more desperately than Shisui would’ve liked. “Why does he insist on this distance?”

It hurt, being suddenly shut out by one of his favourite little cousins. There had been no warning, no lead-up; Sasuke had just one day stopped talking to them. Well, actually, Shisui often wondered if there _had_ been warning signs that they’d all simply mistaken as Sasuke growing up.

That thought hurt even worse.

The blond boy smiled sympathetically. “I can’t tell you. It’s not my place, and Sasuke would really kill me then. But he does love you, and I know you can all fix things, ‘ttebayo.” His big blue eyes were painfully earnest.

Shisui couldn’t help the equally earnest smile that he gave in return. “Then I’ll just say thank you, Naruto-kun, for your help.”

* * *

 

His phone was ringing. Sasuke groaned, extending his arm across his bed to where he’d shoved the thing under his other pillows, wondering which annoyance was choosing to bother him now. He’d gone straight to bed after arriving home from school, and wasn’t best pleased that his nap had been interrupted.

“What?” he growled into the phone as soon as he’d located it, not even bothering to look at the Caller ID. It would only be one of two people, and Sasuke didn’t particularly care about manners concerning either of them.

“I’m sorry for waking you up, Sasuke-kun, but Kushina-san just rang me to ask if I knew where Naruto-baka is. He still isn’t home from school, and she’s getting worried.” Haruno Sakura’s familiar voice met his ear, holding an abnormally anxious undercurrent. Sasuke sat up, heaving a sigh.

That dobe.

Of course it was Naruto’s fault that he’d been forced to wake up early. “He’s probably fine, Sakura,” he tiredly told his pink haired friend. “It’s only half-past six.”

Sakura sighed back. “Even though he’s an idiot, Naruto does usually text his parents where he is and if he won’t be home. It’s been over two hours since school let out, and they’ve not heard a word from him. I’m a little worried myself now.” Sasuke could see the way she was biting her lip and twirling her bangs around her finger just as clearly as if they’d been having this conversation in person.

“Okay, okay, I’ll ring him and get back to you if he answers. Don’t panic, and stop imagining the worst,” he ordered. “Talk to you in a bit.”

Hanging up on Sakura, Sasuke hit speed-dial three (one and two being his parents, unused as they generally were). “Come on, dobe,” he muttered to himself as he waited for the idiot to pick up. “I don’t have time for your shit.”

When the click that indicated his call had been answered came, Sasuke didn’t give his dumbass friend a chance to speak. “What the hell do you think you’re doing, dobe?” He demanded.

“Hello, Sasuke-chan.”

Sasuke almost choked on his own tongue. He pulled the phone away from his ear in order to glare at it, as though the ferocity of it would reach through the line to the person on the other end. What the fuck was going on here?

“I know you’re trying to burn me with your eyes, Sasuke-chan.” That infuriating voice spoke again, amusement clearly filtering through.

“Shisui…” Sasuke couldn’t help the growl that slipped out. “What are you doing with Naruto’s phone?”

Naruto had told him, of course, about literally running into his brother accidentally that time. Shisui had been there too, but Sasuke still couldn’t see how that chance meeting had turned into _this_. What even _was_ ‘this’?

His cousin chuckled. “Mou, Sasuke-chan, I just wanted to get to know your friend a little better,” he said reprovingly. “After all, you’ve certainly never mentioned him, and I was curious about what kind of person would be bold enough to proclaim himself _your_ best friend.”

Sasuke was practically trembling with rage. How dare he? His family was choosing _now_ , of all times, to become involved in his life? Where had they been, years ago, when-!

He forced his mind to switch tracks; there was no point in making himself feel worse, not when his stupid older cousin had, in all likelihood, just kidnapped his dobe. Shisui wouldn’t harm Naruto, Sasuke knew that. In fact, he’d probably just bullied the blond into going out to get food together in order for Shisui to interrogate him.

Still. That didn’t excuse the fact that Shisui was inserting himself where he wasn’t wanted _or_ needed, after years of generally not giving a shit. “Bring him back and tell his mother that he’s fine,” Sasuke ground out through gritted teeth. “I’ll take him home later.”

After he’d dragged every single detail of the encounter out of Naruto’s abominable memory.

“Right, right,” Shisui said placatingly. “We’ll be at yours in just a little bit then. See you soon~”

He hung up.

Sasuke tossed his phone down on his bed, eyes narrowed menacingly. Heads would be rolling tonight.


	3. Surprising Revelations

“SASUKE!”

The loud cry that came from the front entryway caught the attention of every single person in the house. Itachi, who had been hovering on the landing, spying on his baby brother as he paced in front of the open front door, found himself having to concentrate on not allowing his jaw to drop. A noise (barely a gasp, but a little more than an in-drawn breath) told him that his mother, who had been spying alongside him, was equally as shocked.

Because a bright ball of sunshine had just barrelled into their house and launched itself at the youngest Uchiha – and he hadn’t dodged.

“Dobe,” Sasuke said quietly, one hand coming up to gently push the other boy’s face out of its place, buried in his neck. It was as though he’d forgotten anyone else was even there. “Are you okay?”

Uzumaki Naruto, the aforementioned ball of sunshine, unwrapped his arms from around Sasuke’s shoulders; only to immediately shuffle behind the other teen. Tan hands gripped tightly onto the back of Sasuke’s plain black t-shirt, probably wrinkling it.

Sasuke let them.

“Teme!” The sudden outburst sounded strange in the usually silent Uchiha home. “Your cousin is a pervert! He kidnapped me and made me go on a date with him!”

The fact that Itachi knew perfectly well that Naruto had voluntarily met up with Shisui after school (although it may not have been entirely a lie; who knew where Shisui had whisked the teenager off to) made his mother’s indignantly confused expression even funnier. Itachi felt a little bad for laughing (on the inside) at his mother’s expense, but it couldn’t be helped. “Mother, it’s okay,” he whispered to her. “That is otōto’s best friend.”

Wide black eyes locked with his own. Uchiha Mikoto had been almost as worried about Sasuke as Itachi had; the fact that he actually had friends would be a welcome surprise for her.

They both turned their gazes to the spectacle in the doorway, identical minute smiles forming on each of their faces. Shisui was protesting Naruto’s loud claims, and Itachi could only imagine the entirely unimpressed look that Sasuke was probably wearing. “Shut up, Shisui,” the youngest Uchiha finally interrupted his cousin. “Did you give the dobe his phone back?”

Shisui sheepishly pulled the brightly cased phone out of his pocket (Itachi could only sigh at the offensive shade of orange) and handed it over. Mikoto looked on reprovingly; his cousin would likely be getting a lecture later on, and Itachi was not sorry. Shisui could always do with a little lecturing.

Sasuke took the phone and handed it back to his friend. “Hurry up and call your mother, dobe. I’m going to call Sakura, she was worried about your dumb ass.”

“Ooh, Sakura-chan was worried about me?” Naruto left his place at Sasuke’s back to bounce around in front of him, a foolish grin spread wide over his face. “Call her, call her! No, wait! Video call! I wanna see Sakura-chan!”

Itachi silently blessed the hyperactive teenager; he hadn’t been aware that Sasuke had _two_ friends. He would be able to see this Sakura girl’s face on the screen if Sasuke and Naruto stayed right where they were currently standing. Barely three seconds later, the call had been picked up and Itachi noticed out of the corner of his eye the way Mikoto’s eyebrows shot up. He couldn’t really blame her.

The girl who appeared on the screen was just as eye-catching in appearance as Naruto was; hair the exact same shade of pink as candy floss, piercing grass green eyes, and a rather pretty face that Itachi was sure caught its fair share of attention.

“Sakura-chan!” Naruto crowed the moment she answered. “I heard you were worried about me!” He crowded back into Sasuke’s personal space, pushing their faces together so that they would both be visible on Sakura’s screen. There was minimal protesting on Sasuke’s part; the elbow he jabbed into Naruto’s side seemed more perfunctory than anything.

“As you can see, the dobe is fine.” Sasuke said drily.

Itachi and Mikoto let out identical not-quite snorts. When had his little brother acquired a sense of humour?

“I was _not_ worried about _you,_ you idiot!” Sakura scowled furiously. “I was worried for Kushina-san’s sake! She rang me, you know, and she was really upset because _somebody_ wasn’t picking up his phone!”

Naruto pouted, flinging a dramatic hand in Shisui’s direction. Sasuke obligingly panned the phone along with him, and Shisui winked cheerfully into the camera. Sasuke brought it back to face the two teenagers, and Itachi barely had time to take note of the taken aback expression Sakura was wearing, before Naruto once again stole the spotlight. “It’s not my fault, Sakura-chan! I was kidnapped by that creepy weirdo and he stole my phone and I had to be rescued by Sasuke-teme!” He made the ‘rescue’ part sound like a far worse fate than the ‘kidnapping’.

“I wish you would stop saying that, Naruto-kun,” Shisui said. “It’s not kidnapping if I was planning on bringing you back anyway.”

The kid sniffed, tossing his head dramatically. “I’m not listening to the opinions of a pervert.”

Quick as a flash, Itachi had his phone out and was snapping a picture of Shisui’s face; such an expression had to be immortalised. Mikoto side-eyed him, amusement tugging at her lips. Itachi shrugged. Amusing himself at Shisui’s expense was one of his few joys in life.

The three teenagers chattered away to each other for another few minutes – it was very surreal to see his little brother _chatting_ , even if mostly in the form of grunts and monosyllables – before Sakura forced them to hang up, with stern instructions to immediately contact Naruto’s mother afterward. The boys kept their word, continuing to stand in the entryway while Sasuke dialled. It made Itachi wonder just how long they had been friends, if Sasuke was so comfortable ringing the other boy’s mother. It was shameful, that he had been unaware of such basic information about his brother’s life. He had always been overprotective of Sasuke, right from the word go. Itachi had only been trying to finally let him grow up, gain some independence. But it seemed he had made a mistake somewhere along the line and allowed Sasuke to distance himself when he should have held on tighter than ever.

He wouldn’t make that mistake again.

Itachi and Mikoto watched on with curious eyes as Sasuke’s call was answered, an attractive woman with bright red hair coming into view almost instantly. “Sasuke-kun!” She cried, a bright smile on her face. “I see you found my little troublemaker!”

“Oi!”

“Hello, Kushina-san,” Sasuke replied, paying no attention to Naruto’s indignant squawk. “My stupid cousin apparently stole the dobe off somewhere after school; I apologise if he caused you to worry.”

“Oh?” The woman, Kushina’s, voice went soft. “Do I need to kick someone’s ass, Sasuke-kun?”

Sasuke shrugged, unconcerned. “If you want. Maybe it’ll teach him a lesson.”

Shisui pouted, and Itachi rolled his eyes. As if Sasuke would say anything else.

Abruptly, Kushina burst out laughing. The exuberance of it was very similar to her son’s laugh; from what Itachi could see of her face as she calmed down, smiling at the two teenagers, they seemed to share a lot of facial features. “Well, if he’s alive and unharmed, I guess I’ll let it slide this time, ‘ttebane. But tell your cousin not to do it again, okay Sasuke-kun? I don’t appreciate it.” Her smile turned sharp and toothy.

Sasuke nodded in agreement. Naruto, evidently tired of being ignored, grabbed the phone out of his hands and brought it right up to his own face. “Oi! If you’re gonna act so concerned about me, at least say hello!”

“Hah? What was that? Are you jealous, offspring dearest?” Naruto reared his head back in denial, and Itachi saw the wicked smirk curving Kushina’s mouth up. Mikoto brought a hand up to stifle a giggle. It was tempting to snap another picture; he rarely saw his mother acting so cutely.

“Jealous of what?” Naruto shouted, flailing wildly. Sasuke took the chance to snatch his phone back, whacking the blond boy across the back of the head in the process. “And what was that for?!”

“You’re an idiot,” Sasuke informed him, turning back to the cackling redhead on his screen. “I don’t suppose you want him back right now, do you Kushina-san?”

She shook her head, grinning fondly. “No, no, you keep him, Sasuke-kun. Just let me know later if I’m going to see his face again tonight or tomorrow, please.”

He nodded. “Will do. See you later, Kushina-san.”

“BYE MAMA!” Naruto crowed, waving madly at the camera. “I LOVE YOU!”

“I love you too baby.” She hung up.

The boys didn’t linger too much longer in the entryway; Sasuke took a moment or two to glare at Shisui in silence, before grabbing Naruto’s wrist and turning to drag him up the stairs. Itachi met his mother’s eyes for a second of shared amusement, and then they both scuttled (in the most elegant, refined way possible) silently back to their rooms.

Laying back on his bed, Itachi thought back to what he had just seen. His sullen, moody baby brother had seemed to come alive in the presence of his blond friend and was even comfortable joking – _joking!_ – around with his mother. It made something in Itachi’s heart hurt, to see a side of Sasuke that he had never seen, shared so freely with strangers, but. He also ached with relief, to know that his brother had people he could act like that with, that he wasn’t always hiding behind the wall of ice that surrounded him when he was at home.

Now if only Itachi could find a way to make that wall come crumbling down (and then destroy whatever had caused it to be built in the first place.)


	4. Endearing Friends

The moment they were alone, barricaded in his room, Sasuke whirled on his friend. "What the hell, dobe? What happened? Shisui didn't actually do anything weird, did he?"

Dark eyes roved over the blond's body, scrutinising every last detail. Naruto laughed, slinging an arm around Sasuke's neck and toppling them both onto his bed. "I'm fine, Sasuke! I promise he didn't do anything. He was just super nosy." He paused. "Also, your bed is really comfy, 'ttebayo." The stupid grin on his face, more than anything, was what made Sasuke finally relax.

"Of course it is, it's mine."

He said it mostly because he knew it would make Naruto laugh. Feeling his friend's body shake against his own, Sasuke's own lips tipped upwards in a wry grin. He quickly shoved the other boy away from him so he wouldn't see, taking advantage of the way his eyes had scrunched shut while he wheezed for breath. "You're loud, usuratonkachi," he said. "I'm going to go deaf."

"And you're a bastard," Naruto replied, grinning fondly. "But you don't see me complaining."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "You complain literally every day."

Faced with this inescapable truth, Naruto's grin just turned cheeky. "Yeah, but you love me anyway."

Unfortunately, that was also true. Sighing, Sasuke rolled onto his back, staring blankly at the ceiling. "So what did Shisui ask you about?" It dug at him, the way his cousin (and likely his brother too) had suddenly decided that it was alright to intrude on his life. Now, when he didn't need them anymore?

Naruto rolled as well, so that they were laying shoulder to shoulder. "Not much. Nothing intrusive, I mean. I think he was trying to be subtle, or something." He laughed. "But he was really interested in how we became friends, and what kind of shit we got up to, that sort of thing."

Ugh. "And I suppose you told him?"

"A little, yeah." There was a motion as though Naruto was shrugging. "Just about how much of a prick you are, and how I had to harass you into actually talking to me."

The teasing tone in his friend's voice made Sasuke feel a little better. And honestly, he could just imagine the way Naruto would have ranted on about his bastardly ways to Shisui. It was similar to the way he would tell Kushina and Minato about all the stupid things their son had been up to, Naruto spluttering indignantly in the background.

His heart panged painfully. The comparison made a small part of him – the part that Sasuke had been shoving right down to his toes for years – feel infinitesimally warmer. His friends, getting along with his family in the same way that Sasuke got along with theirs? It could have been such a heart-warming moment, if only it hadn't come too late.

Which was exactly why the rest of him was so angry that it almost left him breathless.

"Hey, hey." Next to him, Naruto leaned up on his elbow so that he could meet Sasuke's eyes better. "Relax. Everything's good now, isn't it? Just because they're blind idiots doesn't mean they don't care about you at all."

"I know."

"I mean, your cousin kidnapped me, for fucks sake."

Sasuke snorted, feeling the knot of tension in his chest loosen. "I'm surprised he came back sane."

"Oi!" Naruto grinned.

Sasuke shoved him back into laying down. "Don't look so pleased with yourself," he grumbled. "Just go to sleep. You all owe me for interrupting my nap."

* * *

Naruto ended up staying the night.

It was surreal to Sasuke; his friends had never been to his house before, and yet there Naruto was, snoring his head off in Sasuke's bed.

It'd been good though, to have him around. Naruto's natural sunshiny aura was the best combatant against Sasuke's dark moods, and his ridiculousness was always a good distraction in itself. They'd snuck downstairs during the night, stealing the plates that Sasuke assumed his mother had set aside for them and dashing back upstairs with them like children who were doing something they shouldn't be. Naruto instinctively seemed to know that Sasuke didn't want to see his family (or let them see Naruto any more than they already had), and made a game out of trying to ninja his way around whenever he had to leave the room. Sasuke refused to join in, but it made him smile nonetheless.

"Oi, Sasuke-kun. I know you're awake."

"Shut up, dobe. Your snoring kept me up all night, the least you could do is let me sleep in." Sasuke opened one eye grumpily, scowling at the blond. "And don't call me Sasuke-kun."

Naruto, who was laying on his side facing Sasuke, grinned back. "Good morning, Sunshine! What are we going to do today?"

"What makes you think that  _we_  are going to do anything? What if I was just going to kick you out and go back to sleep?"

The blond shot up on his elbow, leaning over Sasuke with wide blue eyes. "Aw, come on, teme! It's the weekend! Let's go hang out with Sakura-chan." He smiled winningly.

Sasuke wished he had more energy in the mornings, so that he could knock the dobe on his ass.

"Get out of my face," he said instead. "Your breath stinks."

"That's a yes!" Naruto crowed. "I'll call her. We can all go out for breakfast."

He shuffled back to his side of the bed, rummaging around for his phone. Sasuke rolled his eyes, but resigned himself to leaving the house. Naruto would not be swayed now that he'd been given this much leash. Unfortunately, it wasn't too early for Sakura to still be asleep, so Sasuke wouldn't have the pleasure of hearing her berate Naruto before they even got out of bed, but he'd at least get to see her reaction when the two boys showed up together.

The thought of it was enough motivation for Sasuke to roll out of bed and have a quick shower, shoving Naruto towards the bathroom when he was done.

"You're wearing some of my clothes, dobe!" He called out, smirking. "We're breaking Sakura's brain today."

A mad cackle was his only answer.


	5. Idiot Stalkers

"Hey, Itachi? Don’t you feel a little weird?”

“No. Why would I?”

“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe because we’re two grown men stalking three teenagers?”

Itachi looked completely nonplussed.

Shisui wanted to facepalm. His cousin’s singlemindedness really was the worst. The two of them were sitting in the back corner of a small, out of the way café named _Fly Free_. It was light and airy, with huge black butterfly imprints stamped on one wall, and green plants hanging down from the ceiling. Shisui was fairly certain that it was one of the more low-key Akimichi businesses, purely because of the butterflies.

It was only by chance that they were there; Itachi had overheard (eavesdropped on) Naruto’s enthusiastic call with Sakura earlier, and dragged Shisui out of the house before the two teenagers could see them. They had arrived first to the café, and sat down at a table least likely for them to be spotted at.

It gave them the perfect view of Sakura arriving first by herself; she was even prettier in person, with her vibrant features and smooth, pale skin. She chose to sit in a booth against the wall,  not far from the two cousins, and well within earshot too. It also gave them the perfect view of her face when Sasuke and Naruto showed up together not long after the waitress had taken Sakura’s order, the blond wearing an almost all black outfit that could only belong to Sasuke.

It was a hilarious contortion of surprise, jealousy, and appreciation, and Shisui hadn’t even tried to resist snapping a picture. He was sure it could only help if Sasuke ever discovered that they had followed him like this.

“Naruto,” Sakura growled. “Tell me everything. Now.”

Naruto grinned and Sasuke smirked as they dropped down into the booth on the other side of their pink haired friend.

“I got kidnapped, Sakura-chan,” the blond said earnestly, blinking his blue eyes at her innocently. “It was a traumatic experience, so our good friend Sasuke here-“ he grabbed hold of Sasuke’s arm and stared up at him adoringly. “Allowed me to stay with him overnight for comfort.”

Sasuke just sat there placidly, face as stoic as usual.

Sakura on the other hand…

“Na-ru-to,” she ground out, brow twitching impressively. Shisui could see her clenched fists from where he and Itachi were just chilling behind their menus. “You stayed at Sasuke-kun’s house without me. You’re wearing his clothes.”

Seemingly oblivious to his impending death, Naruto nodded. “Yup!”

All at once, the tension vanished from Sakura’s body and she flung herself onto the table, sobbing into her hands.

“How could you,” she moaned piteously. “Naruto, I thought we were friends. I thought you loved me. Why would you hog a milestone like that all to yourself-“ she trailed off, sobbing harder.

Naruto smiled sympathetically, reaching forward to pat her on the head. “I’m sorry, Sakura-chan. Maybe his creepy cousin will kidnap you next?”

Shisui rolled his eyes.

(Although that wasn’t a bad idea, honestly).

Next to him, Itachi was smirking. Shisui jabbed him in the ribs, but his expression remained the same.

“You’ve gained a lifelong reputation, Shisui.”

“He better not,” Sasuke spoke before Shisui could reply. “They all should just leave you two alone.”

Well. Shisui’s stomach sank, but he already knew that wasn’t going to happen. One glance at Itachi’s face told him his cousin felt the same.

In response to Sasuke’s statement, Sakura stopped her fake crying and reached over the table to slip her hand into his.

“So possessive, Sasuke-kun~” she said, smiling teasingly. “Don’t worry. You know I can look after myself.”

“I know. But I don’t want you to have to.”

Even while Shisui was _incredibly_ offended at the implication behind Sasuke’s words ( _what_ exactly did that kid think Shisui would do to his friends?), he couldn’t stop the smile forming on his face. It had been literal years since he’d heard his baby cousin even vaguely allude to caring about something.

It was nice to know that he had two somethings that cared right back.

Naruto had a very soft look on his face when he wrapped Sasuke and Sakura’s linked hands in both of his. “I really love you guys, you know?” He said, completely without hesitance.

Sasuke immediately ducked his head. Naruto laughed and jostled their little hand sandwich lightly, but otherwise left him to compose himself (or whatever he was doing). Sakura, on the other hand, was smiling brightly, although her cheeks were stained as pink as her hair.

“I love you too, baka Naruto. And you as well, Sasuke-kun.”

Shisui thought his heart might burst; these kids were _seriously_ cute. He didn’t think he’d ever been so unguarded with anybody who wasn’t Itachi, and they were cousins. It made some weight he’d hardly even been aware of lift from his chest; whatever it was that Sasuke had been or was going through, his friends were _good_. He wasn’t alone.

Their food arrived then – apparently Sakura had ordered for all of them. Three smoothies, one gigantic stack of waffles, one grilled sandwich, and one bowl of something Shisui couldn’t see were deposited on the kids’ table, and Shisui caught Itachi’s eye questioningly.

His cousin nodded. While their stalkees were distracted, the two of them slipped out of the café, making their way swiftly back to Itachi’s house. Not having eaten since they’d snuck downstairs for seconds last night, they helped themselves to rice and miso soup (Mikoto-ba-san was an actual angel; Shisui’s own mother never bothered making more than enough for herself now that he was ‘old enough and ugly enough to take care of himself’).

Once they were done, they retreated to Itachi’s room, where Shisui threw himself across the end of the bed. Itachi rolled his eyes, settling in his desk chair.

“Okay!” Shisui clapped his hands. “That was enlightening. Even if we did look like creepy old men.”

“It was.” Itachi agreed, completely ignoring Shisui’s last statement. “Naruto wasn’t exaggerating when he called himself Sasuke’s best friend. They are very close.”

That was a total understatement.

“Sakura too,” Shisui mused. “The three of them obviously have a super tight relationship. It was sweet to see.”

“Sasuke doesn’t want us to know them.”

Itachi sounded- not quite hurt, but close enough that Shisui sat up, reaching out to pat his knee reassuringly.

“We’ll fix it, cousin. We’ll get his trust back, and then we’ll do everything we can not to lose it again. No matter how long it takes.”

He could almost see the determination settling along Itachi’s shoulders, could feel himself straightening like a mirror image to match. Come hell or high water, they were going to succeed. There wasn’t any other choice.


End file.
